The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Typically, a chew toy is a toy designed to be chewed by pets for purposes of stimulation and relief from boredom. Chew toys are commonly associated with puppies and dogs, though they are also used for birds, rodents, and rabbits. The act of gnawing on a chew toy is meant to be soothing and to assist small animals, like puppies, in event of easing the pain when breaking in their adult teeth as the chewing process releases feel-good chemicals from the brain. In the art, several types of chew toys are known. These may include materials made of rawhide, wood, paper and mineral.
Generally, chew toys are beneficial for pets, providing mastication exercise as well as dental sanitation. Such toys have also been known to include devices that emit sound when the pet chews on or otherwise squeezes the toy due to the compression of air through the devices. These devices, typically known as “squeakers,” are usually made of reeds or other similar devices that vibrate when air is compressed through them, with the vibration emitting a sound the animal finds attractive.
One type of squeaker is that arranged within an aperture of a compressible plastic chamber, which forces air through the squeaker when the chamber is compressed. In most compressible sound-emitting pet toys, the squeaker and squeaker chambers are generally confined to a limited region of the toy.
In many instances, the compressive forces by the jaw of the pet damage the chew toy. Thus, the chew toys break very quickly under normal play conditions. The squeaker is especially susceptible to damage, being either part of the mold or attached to the single wall mold. In either case, when the outside wall gets punctured or the squeaker gets chewed or crushed, the chew toy stops making noise. Once the squeaker is broken, the chew toy loses appeal. The second issue is, to get good sound, the wall of the chew toy has to be pliable. The issue with this is the toy can easily be punctured or torn again eliminating the appeal for the pet and causing the play area to require cleaning once the toy is shredded.
Other proposals have involved squeaky chew toys for pets. The problem with these chew toys is that they do not provide a squeaky sound when compressed from any direction. Also, the reed that produces the squeaky sound is often damaged due to the compressive forces by the jaw of the animal. Even though the above cited chew toys meets some of the needs of the market, a an animated, chewable pet toy that emits a squeaky sound when compressed or pulled from multiple directions and pressures due to an alternating pattern of accordion and bulbous sections is still desired.